Tour de France 2018 - stage 19 LIVE: Geraint Thomas extends lead as Primoz Roglic overtakes Chris Froome with victory

Follow all the action as the peloton take on the final day in the moutains

Tour de France stage 18 summary

The 2018 Tour de France is reaching its climax and the final day of mountain racing promises to be a thriller.

While it is set to be a dramatic day of racing it will also be a brute as the peloton take on three of the four climbs considered part of the Pyrénean 'circle of death': the Col d’Aspin and Col d’Aubisque sit either side of the highest pass in the French Pyrénées and one of the great Tour de France climbs, the Col du Tourmalet.

Race leader Geraint Thomas has three stages between him and the greatest win of his career. Saturday's time trial will favour world champion Tom Dumoulin but today won't be without problems either as he faces attacks from all sides. Team Sky will hope to shut it down and create a snoozefest, of course, but there is enough there for it to produce fireworks – if enough riders are prepared to gamble.

We will have all the latest throughout the day.

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Key Points

• Stage 19 is final mountain day of the 2018 Tour de France
• Stage will see riders tackle three of the four climbs considered part of the Pyrénean 'circle of death'
• Team Sky's Geraint Thomas leads Team Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin by nearly two minutes overall

[27 July 2018 10:25 · Ben Burrows]

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the final mountain stage of the 2018 Tour de France.

Geraint Thomas has the yellow jersey in his grasp and is only two days away from the most famous win of his career. Standing in his way is Tom Dumoulin with teammate Chris Froome now out of the running.

It promises to be a thrilling day as the world's best battle the Pyrenean 'circle of death' and we will have all the latest for you throughout the day.

[27 July 2018 10:36 · Ben Burrows]

There are only three more stages between Geraint Thomas and a life-changing victory in the Tour de France.

On Sunday, the procession to Paris; on Saturday, the individual time trial which should favour second-place Tom Dumoulin; and on Friday, the final mountain stage. 

It is a brute, taking in three of the four climbs considered part of the Pyrénean 'circle of death': the Col d’Aspin and Col d’Aubisque sit either side of the highest pass in the French Pyrénées and one of the great Tour de France climbs, the Col du Tourmalet.

It is there that Thomas is most likely to be attacked but he will be prepared for a day of body blows from every angle. That may not come to fruition: much will depend on how much those behind him in the general classification are prepared to gamble.

Is Dumoulin prepared to risk his podium place with a speculative long-range assault which might end in failure? Are those lower down in the top 10, like Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana and Dan Martin, willing to go for a glorious and memorable stage win?

[27 July 2018 10:45 · Ben Burrows]

There is little for Thomas' rivals to lose and for entertainment's sake it would be fantastic to see a showdown on the Tourmalet and Aubisque, with Thomas forced to shed his team-mates and give everything to cling on to his yellow jersey.

The problem for those chasing will not be Thomas specifically so much as Team Sky. The stage is more manageable than Wednesday's intense run to the Col du Portet, with flatter sections to control rather than only steep climbs and sheer drops.

Sky are masters at dictating this kind of stage and it will take either a well-planned alliance between other teams or all-out chaos in order to shake Sky's hold on the race.

[27 July 2018 10:55 · Ben Burrows]

Today's stage is likely to bring a breakaway of non-GC riders who go right to the end and the winner may well come from that break, with Adam Yates and Rafal Majka likely to be in the mix. If the break is caught on the final climb then any number of riders could win it – Martin has looked particularly strong in recent days. 

Chris Froome's role will be interesting to observe. Thomas said on Thursday evening that Froome would not be working for him unless he was really needed, meaning much of the burden on the key climbs will fall on the young Colombian Egan Bernal, who is having a brilliant debut Tour and was tipped by Thomas this week to be a future winner.

This is not a summit finish but a fast, technical descent from the Aubisque which would suit a rider like Julian Alaphilippe, should he still be in the mix at that point, but even the climbing specialists like Quintana could win it so long as they give themselves enough of a lead – at least 20 seconds – going over the top.

Team Sky will hope to shut it down and create a snoozefest, but there is enough packed into this stage for it to produce fireworks – if enough riders are prepared to gamble.

[27 July 2018 11:18 · Ben Burrows]

And we're away.

It's a long old run today with the peloton staring at a daunting 200.5km in the saddle this afternoon.

There are six categorised climbs as well of course so plenty to get our teeth into.

[27 July 2018 11:27 · Ben Burrows]

The peloton don't have to wait long for their first climb of the day.

It's a steep one too, the Category 4 Cote de Loucrup.

We can expect attacks as the chasing pack bid to cut into Geraint Thomas' lead.

[27 July 2018 11:40 · Ben Burrows]

We were always likely to see a breakaway early and we have with three riders going off the front early.

Damien Gaudin went first and has Lukas Pöstlberger and Silvan Dillier alongside him.

They are about 20 seconds up the road from the peloton.

[27 July 2018 11:50 · Ben Burrows]

If the 'circle of death' wasn't enough the riders have changeable weather to deal with as well today.

[27 July 2018 12:00 · Ben Burrows]

Our leading trio have been joined by Adam Yates, Bob Jungels and Tanel Kangert.

They lead the bunch by around half a minute but that looks likely to change as riders splinter off in pursuit.

Just the 170km to go.

[27 July 2018 12:16 · Jack de Menezes]

The leading sextet are onto the first climb of the day, the category four Cote de Capvern-les-Bains, and a second chase group now consists of 12 riders looking to close them down.

The peloton, which contains yellow jersey-wearer Geraint Thomas, is now more than four-and-a-half minutes behind the lead group, although Team Sky have now congregated at the front of the pack and are looking to up the pace.